It is said that nothing is more painful for a parent than losing a child because it is truly heartbreaking to have your beloved son or daughter leave this world before you. And for Marites (Cherry Pie Picache) and Rigor (John Estrada) of “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo,” it happened not just once, but twice.
The first one occurred when David (McCoy de Leon)—their first child together—was killed by Miguelito (Jake Cuenca) after he refused to obey his order of gunning down Tanggol (Coco Martin) as he suddenly had a change of heart. Just as they thought that nothing could ever be more painful or harder than that, they never fully imagined that it would happen again, and this time with their beloved youngest child, Santino.
However, what makes it more heartbreaking is that it was Rigor who caused his unforeseen demise. It can be recalled that he accidentally shot him instead of Tanggol after Santino blocked the bullet intended for his kuya during the intense encounter between the Quiapo Police and the group of Tanggol.
Since Rigor and Marites haven’t been on good terms with each other for quite some time—with the former consistently blaming the latter and her firstborn, Tanggol, for the deaths of their sons and the unfortunate events that had happened to their family—they fought over who between them was rightful to take custody of Santino’s remains.
Initially, Rigor was able to bring him to their residence in San Dimas, but upon learning from their friend, Mando (Allan Paule), what really happened, Marites strongly fought for the custody of their deceased child. Aware of what he had done, Rigor couldn’t do anything but let her transfer Santino to the abode of Congressman Leo Mojica (Rey Campanilla), where he eventually wreaked havoc in his attempt to capture Tanggol again, knowing that he would be there to pay his last respects to his younger brother.
And in the February 17 episode of “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo,” we’d witnessed Santino being sent to his final resting place by his family, friends, and neighbors in San Dimas. Just when Marites assumed that it was going to be their family and some friends of Santino who would be in attendance, she was surprised and delighted to find out that even Cong. Leo and the Team Tanggol councilors would accompany them, as they pledged to protect his son from Rigor. While it was inevitable for Tanggol to be there as well, Tindeng assured that he wouldn’t be allowed to come near Santino.
Mando, Ghercie (Ghercie Soriano), Happy (Happy Marcial), and Joel (Salvador "Badong" Domasian Jr.) served as the pallbearers, with Marites, Tindeng, Roda (Joel Lamangan), Cong. Leo, Geline (Geline Garcia), and the councilors and other attendees following them. Marites instantaneously wept as soon as the casket was opened for the blessing of Santino’s body, more so when his coffin was inserted into his tomb. Rigor then arrived at the cemetery, yet he simply watched them from afar and waited until all of them left.
When everyone was already gone and while his son’s tomb was still uncovered, Rigor seized the moment to speak with Santino to ask forgiveness and promise to seek justice for what happened to him. Marites suddenly showed up behind him, and a heated exchange ensued between them anew, in which Rigor threatened to hunt Tanggol down wherever he may go.
CCM Film Productions uploaded a very brief behind-the-scenes video of Santino’s interment sequence across its social media platformsl, with Atty. Rey Campanilla serving as the CCM Reporter. It showed what happened on the set while the scenes were being shot, as well as Marites’ last moments with her beloved son, with unit director Darnel Villaflor and his assistant director(s) instructing the actors on what they should do.
Will Rigor really succeed in his vengeful pursuits? Let's find out in the upcoming episodes of “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo,” weeknights on Kapamilya Channel, ALLTV2, A2Z, Kapamilya Online Live (KOL) and iWant.